nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 doesn't appear on Wireshark interface

[Md Mazedul Islam Khan]

I am struggling to see nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 as an interface in the Wireshark interface list under the startup welcome screen. I am using nRF62840-Dongle and flashed it by utilizing the nrf802154_sniffer_dongle.hex available under the GitHub nRF-Sniffer-for-802.15.4 repository. I didn't find a specific binary for nRF62840-Dongle device there.

• Since I flashed the nRF62840-Dongle device using a mismatched binary nrf802154_sniffer_dongle.hex, is it the main cause of the issue? If so, where do I get the correct binary for the nRF62840-Dongle device?

I have Python 3 installation with Homebrew including Pip 3. I have listed the relevant installation path in the following:

• which python: python not found
• which pip: /usr/local/bin/pip
• which python3: /usr/local/bin/python3
• which pip3: /usr/local/bin/pip3

I installed pyserial using pip3 install pyserial. I copied the nrf802154_sniffer.py file under the ~/.config/wireshark/extcap location which is a Personal Extcap path.

When running the python3 nrf802154_sniffer.py --extcap-interfaces command, it outputs the following valid confirmation:

extcap {version=0.7.2}{help=https://github.com/NordicSemiconductor/nRF-Sniffer-for-802.15.4}{display=nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4}
interface {value=/dev/cu.usbmodemF1BD057D01BB1}{display=nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4}
control {number=6}{type=button}{role=logger}{display=Log}{tooltip=Show capture log}

So, what am I missing? Why nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 interface isn't appearing on the Wireshark Custom Interface list?

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Hi,

I assume you meant nRF52840-Dongle? The firmware named "nrf802154_sniffer_dongle.hex" is the correct file to use with this dongle. We do not have other dongles that support IEEE 802.15.4. The output from the "--extcap-interfaces" command also indicates that the sniffer firmware is found and working correctly.

I do not have too much experience with MacOS, but I assume this is caused by the missing "python" application. Can you try to change the first line of the script from "python" to "python3", or to create a symbolic link from python3 to python?

Best regards,
Jørgen

[Jørgen Holmefjord]

Did you try both suggestions?

Have you tried restarting Wireshark and reboot the computer?

Which Python 3 version are you using?

[JANC]

I tried using it as user as well, i dont see the nrf sniffer as an interface.

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

JANC said:

Does nrf dongle work on FC25 kernel version 4.8.6, wireshark version 2.0.1?

I have not heard about any system requirements for the dongle before, so I assume it should work for something like this as well.

JANC said:

Dongle firmware is loaded in the dongle nrf802154_sniffer_dongle.hex was loaded. The same dongle captures packets in windows platform.

The issue is only with Linux plactform.

Good to know, then we know that the dongle should work.

JANC said:

I tried using it as user as well, i dont see the nrf sniffer as an interface.

Try to add the user to the correct user groups for USB access. The group for this is often dialout, but it may vary with distros.
See for example https://askubuntu.com/questions/133235/how-do-i-allow-non-root-access-to-ttyusb0

Also, which output do you get from "

wireshark -D interfaces

"

?

[JANC]

fir wireshark -D interfaces

Nordic dongle doesnt get listed here

I created user instead of root and added to dialout, But no luck

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

JANC said:

I created user instead of root and added to dialout, But no luck

From Installing Wireshark on Ubuntu Linux:

Did you also rememver to log out and in again

Can you do "ls -l" from  the extcap folder?

[JANC]

Yes in fact i restarted the machine and used in root config

this is at usr login

What is expected in this location? Can you share some file or screen shot of what is expected here? So i will know

This is x86 based machine using FC25 OS.

On Another note, i tried same steps on ubuntu machine - just to check

I dont see any file in extcap directory here also and when i force open the tshark, i get below message

tshark: The capture session could not be initiated on interface '/dev/ttyACM0' (No such device exists).
Please check that you have the proper interface or pipe specified.
0 packets captured

Thanks

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

JANC said:

Yes in fact i restarted the machine and used in root config

I specified "ls -l" because I also need to see permissions on the files. The screenshots is not enough.

However, I see that root is the owner of the user files, so that may interfere.

JANC said:

What is expected in this location? Can you share some file or screen shot of what is expected here? So i will know

Disregard files other than "nrf802154_sniffer.py".

JANC said:

On Another note, i tried same steps on ubuntu machine - just to check

I dont see any file in extcap directory here also

You must manually move files into extcap directory.

If you get the same issue on Ubuntu, I guess you are missing some steps.
Please make sure to follow every step explained in the nRF Sniffer for 802.15.4 guide.

JANC said:

tshark: The capture session could not be initiated on interface '/dev/ttyACM0' (No such device exists).

Can you show me the output of these commands?

ls /dev/ttyACM*
groups

[JANC]

Yes i copied the python file manually in extcap directory and executed. No other files is added here.

wcduser@wcduser-Latitude-7480:/usr/share/wireshark/extcap$ ls -l /dev/ttyACM*
crw-rw-rw- 1 root dialout 166, 0 Sep 20 14:43 /dev/ttyACM0

wcduser adm dialout cdrom sudo dip plugdev lpadmin lxd 

This ubuntu machine.

As i am using the user login and not root, the wireshark exists in this path /usr/share/wireshark/extcap

Where is the extcap file expected to be available?

[JANC]

Hi,

I was able to get it working in ubuntu. Had to change the nrf802154_sniffer.py python file to use python3 instead of python.

However, FC25 is still not working.

Can you confirm if it can support or any limitation is there?

Same procedure i am following in both

What does the above message mean? This is in FC25

[Sigurd Hellesvik]

See previously in this case:

Marte Myrvold said:

The sniffer does not work with Python v3.10. Please downgrade to Python v3.8 or v3.9.

[JANC]

Thanks for the conitnuous support.

I had set permissions for the nrf802154_sniffer.py  file as well. This made it work and list in the interfaces.